family, escrow and chuppah ...

I'm in the blogging mood ... so much going on in my life and marriage and family and church ... where do I begin?

My wife is simply amazing ... we've been married almost 10 years and I'm more in love with her than ever before ... our children are growing up so fast ... Ava is getting smarter and smarter every day ... this week, we introduced her to the world of Monopoly ... she won ... it's on ... Adiah dances in this Hawaiian costume every night ... so cute ... Asher is such an amazing kid ... I couldn't imagine life without my son ... and now we have little Alicia ... she's almost walking and has the most beautiful eyes ...

as far as the Stirring, today we went into escrow on the building we're purchasing ... it still seems unreal ... we've been praying for a space like this for years ... I know this is God's dream for us, and God loves to see His dreams in the hands of His children ... God is so good!

Over the next three weeks, we're wrapping up our series Under the Chuppah ... we've been talking about love and romance and dating and marriage and sex ... all the good stuff ... with all the confusion, divorce and brokenness when it comes to relationships and marriage, I'm convinced the book Song of Songs is more relevant and needed today than ever ... we're calling this generation back Under the Chuppah and into a life of freedom and purity ...

it's late and I need sleep ... blog on!

there's no place I'd rather be ...

I just wrapped up the craziest and fullest few months of my life ...

I finished a challenging theology course in my Masters program, brought our 4th child Alicia Amy Edwardson onto the planet, tackled a thick series on 'Heaven' at the Stirring, and we just hosted our first 'When God Dreams' Conference ...

It's been such an amazing few months ... my daughters bring me so much joy ... my son can beat up your son ... I'm enjoying spending time with my brothers and their wives ... my parents are so encouraging and generous ...

I love our church ... our church is the bomb ... I'm not talking about Sundays, I'm talking about the people ... the people who serve and the people who love and the people who worship and the people who encourage me and hold up my arms every day ... the ones who carry ladders and speak words of life and put courage in me ... that's the church ... thank you for being WHO God has CREATED you to be ... I'm proud to raise my family in our church ...

I just spent the last hour hanging out with my wife on a couch ... there's no place I'd rather be ... I'm fried and ready for bed ...

90 days ...

90 days to go ... 4 kids ... what the heck?

We're stoked about this little girl ... a few weeks BEFORE we knew we were pregnant, an older lady prayed for me at the Stirring ... she encouraged me and then prayed for my family ... she asked, "how many children do you have?" ... to which I replied, "3" ... she smiled and responded, "you've got another child on the way, a little girl and she's a special one" ... I laughed to myself ... not another child, and for sure, not another girl ... a couple weeks later, we found out that we were pregnant ... and yep, a little girl ... tampons and periods and boyfriends and lipstick ... my future ...

I'm so blessed to have such an amazing wife and family ...

vampires and hot tubs ...

it's 11:14 pm ... I'm finishing up a paper for my theology class ... yep, Karl Barth ...

my wife just called me from Movies 8 ... she's been waiting in line all night for that new vampire film 'twilight' ... high school flick with sharp teeth and creepy goth vampire girls ... she bought me a ticket and she's sitting in the theater right now ... the theater is already packed for the midnight showing ... 496 women and 3 men ... punch me in the face ...

my wife asked me if I wanted to sit with my brother Jeremy or with her ... I laughed out loud ... of course, I want to sit with her ... how embarrassing to watch a girl vampire movie with my brother ... no question, I'm sitting with my wife ... if people laugh at me, I'll just point to my wife and tell them she dragged me to watch it with her ... now who's laughing? ...

anyways, my brother Jeremy just called and asked me if I would sit with him (Meghan didn't save him a seat with her) ... I laughed out loud again ... "there's no way I'm sitting with you" ... so he's stuck sitting by himself in the back of the theater ... he's that guy ... sitting alone in the goth chick vampire flick ...

anyways, this whole vampire thing is out of control ... I'd rather be hot tubbing ... more to come ...

date night ...

the perfect date night ...

we dropped the kids off at a friend's house ... jumped into the Oldsmobile ... all dressed up ... tight pants and a button up shirt ... I took my wife to that new restaurant Rivers ... we ate deep friend Gnocchi, Alaskan Halibut and Jerusalem Chicken Artichoke Pot Pie ...

and for dessert, we drove to Rite Aid for some chocolate malted crunch ice cream ... the best ice cream in the world ... (years ago, I was fired from Rite Aid for giving away free ice cream) ... back then we called it Thrifty's ... back in the good old days, when ice cream scoops were still 39 cents ...

and to end the most romantic night ever, we watched that Owen Wilson movie 'Drillbit Taylor' ... we laughed and laughed and laughed ... one of my favorite Owen Wilson movies ... and I loved him in Fight Club ...

this blogs over ... abierto ...

happy 31st birthday ...

we met 10 years ago ...

she drove a blue Geo Storm ...
she studied psychology late into the night ...
she ate at El Mariachi's ...
she starred in one of my movies ...
she wore a tight red sweater ...
she laughed with me ...
she listened to the counting crows ...
she loved God ...

we met and fell in love ... we danced the night away ... we almost died one night on the railroad tracks ...

10 years later, we are still best friends ... happy birthday Erica ... I can't imagine life without you ...

I know you're not supposed to talk about your wife's age ... but I want the blog world to know how much I love her ... and that she's 31 ...

8 years ago ...

8 years ago, I married the most amazing woman ever ...

8 years ago, I woke up nervous and threw on a Tuxedo ... I waited as she walked down the aisle ... I held her hands ...

8 years ago, I sang her a song ... I do ... I kissed her in front of my grandma ... doves flew circles over our heads ... my grandma shouted, "It's a miracle!" ... and it was ...

8 years ago, I married my best friend ... Erica, I can't imagine life without you ... Happy Anniversary ...

my wife

i met my wife in college . . . she drove a 1991 blue Geo Storm . . . sexy . . . and on top of that, she's hispanic . . . unbelievable . . .

we met in Psychology class and quickly became study partners . . . and you know where that leads . . . yep . . . actually, I think she was using me for my smarts . . . i don't want to brag, but I graduated Simpson University with high honors . . . i'm kind of a big deal . . . seriously, i'm a Simpson legend . . . they named one of the dorms after me . . .

anyways, my wife . . . one night, I took her on a date to the railroad tracks over the river at Caldwell Park . . . we walked out across the tracks . . . hearts pulsing . . . if you've never done this, go out and do it tonight . . . it's highly illegal, but worth every minute of it . . . if the train comes, run as fast as you can for your life . . . this is true love . . .

i so quickly fell in love with erica . . . even though some of my best friends (dave reichle and john klein) tried to talk me out of dating her, i knew erica was the ONE for me . . .

there's just something sexy about a blue Geo Storm . . .